Ukraine claims it has regained control over 'swathes of territory'

By Stefan J. Bos    

Ukrainian Brigadier-General Oleksii Hromov told reporters that Ukraine's military regained control of over 100 square kilometers or 38 square miles in its counteroffensive against invading Russian troops. 

"According to our data, the enemy continues to send troops to replenish their losses and positions," Hromov added.        

He confirmed that Ukraine's military liberated seven settlements in the eastern region of Donetsk and the southern region of Zaporizhzhia and was moving further in an offensive that began last week.

Moscow has not officially acknowledged Ukraine's advances, with Russian President Vladimir Putin claiming Ukrainian human losses were 10 times greater than Russia's.

Putin added that Ukraine's army had already lost up to 30 percent of the military vehicles it received from the West.

He also pondered whether Russia's military should try retaking Ukraine's capital Kyiv or remain content with controlling "almost all" of what he called "Novorossiya" or New Russia. It's a Tsarist-era imperial term for a swathe of southern Ukraine now used by Russian nationalists.

Regional elections

On Thursday, Russia's central election commission said regional elections in four Ukrainian provinces that Moscow claims to have annexed would be held on September 10.

However, for the first time, Putin admitted Russia currently lacks ammunition and high precision drones, and complex communication equipment to take over all of Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin miscalculated the West's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and did not expect the further expansion of the NATO military alliance.

"Putin is making a mistake even looking for the Finlandisation of NATO," Biden said, referring to attempts to make the NATO allies neutral on military matters like Finland once was.

Instead, "You've got the NATO-isation of Finland and hopefully Sweden shortly," Biden added.
 
But Putin warned Washington of being unafraid of escalating the armed conflict in Ukraine into World War Three.

Nuclear concerns

The Russian leader already ordered placing tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus which borders Ukraine and several NATO military alliance member states.

As tensions rose, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog visited Europe's largest atomic power plant Thursday in southern Ukraine.

It is located in an area where the Kakhovka dam burst earlier this month, with Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of shelling the facility.

The dam, further down the Dnipro River, helped keep water in a reservoir that cools the plant's reactors, and its destruction has added to safety concerns about the atomic plant.

The plant's six reactors have been shut down for months, but experts say it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.